KR20070005544A - Information transmitting apparatus, terminal apparatus and method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A portal server (4) is adapted to regard a user (C) of preference information (INCc), which includes the URLs of all the music information pages that a user (A) prefers, as a person having similar preference to the user (A) and then introduce a group of "Japanese Juvenile Song Group", to which the user (C) belongs, to the user (A). As a result, only if the user (A) operates to request for introduction of a group that is in accordance with his preference, then he can receive an introduction of a group that has a high potential for being in accordance with his preference. ® KIPO & WIPO 2007

Description

Information transmitting device, terminal device and method thereof {INFORMATION TRANSMITTING APPARATUS, TERMINAL APPARATUS AND METHOD THEREOF}

The present invention relates to an information transmitting apparatus, a terminal apparatus, and a method thereof, and is suitable for, for example, in the case of introducing a group of people with similar symbols to each user participating in a system.

Conventionally, the preference of each user who participated in a predetermined system is grasped, and based on this result, for example, recommendation information (for example, CD (Compact Disc) recommendation information recommended for purchase) of goods is provided for each user. A system has been proposed. In such a system, the server of the system operation side collects the preference information which shows the preference of each user, and transmits various recommendation information for every user based on the said aggregation result (for example, refer patent document 1). .

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-48046

However, in such a system, the system operating side can provide the recommendation information and the like unilaterally to the users, and it cannot be said that there are many merit that each user who participates in the system can enjoy.

Here, for example, if a system which facilitates the exchange between users by introducing a group of users with similar preferences to each user, the system can be made attractive to the user. I think it can increase the number of users.

[Initiation of invention]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to propose an information transmitting apparatus, a terminal apparatus, and a method for efficiently introducing a group of users having similar preferences to each user.

MEANS TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM In order to solve the said subject, in this invention, the information transmission apparatus WHEREIN: Receiving means which receives the 1st preference information which shows the preference of the said user from the terminal apparatus of a user, and the some which shows the preference of each of a plurality of other users. Storage means for storing preference information, retrieving means for retrieving second preference information similar to the first preference information among a plurality of preference information stored by the storage means, and at least another user corresponding to the second preference information The transmission means for transmitting the attribute information of the user to the terminal apparatus of the user is set.

Moreover, in this invention, the transmission apparatus which transmits the 1st symbol information which shows the user's preference to the predetermined apparatus which stores and retains the some symbol information which shows the symbol of each of a plurality of other users in a terminal apparatus, and 1st The other device corresponding to the second preference information that the predetermined device that has received the preference information of the at least one of the plurality of preference information stored in the memory and retrieves the second preference information similar to the first preference information and then transmits the at least one symbol information. The reception means for receiving the attribute information of the user was set.

According to the present invention, in the information transmitting method, a receiving step of receiving first symbol information indicating the user's preference from the user's terminal apparatus and a plurality of preferences stored in predetermined storage means are provided. A search step of searching for the second preference information similar to the first preference information among the plurality of preference information to be displayed, and at least, attribute information of another user corresponding to the second preference information is transmitted to the user terminal device. The transmission step was set.

According to the present invention, in the information receiving method, a transmission step of transmitting first symbol information indicating a user's preferences to a predetermined device storing and holding a plurality of symbol information representing the preferences of a plurality of other users; The predetermined device which has received the symbol information of 1 corresponds to the second symbol information which is at least transmitted after retrieving second symbol information similar to the first symbol information from among a plurality of symbol informations stored and held. A reception step for receiving attribute information of another user was set.

Thereby, based on the preference information of the user transmitted from the terminal apparatus, the group which is likely to match the preference of the user can be introduced.

According to the present invention, a group having a high possibility of matching the preference of the user can be introduced based on the preference information of the user transmitted from the terminal apparatus. As a result, it is possible to realize an information transmitting apparatus, a terminal apparatus, and a method thereof, which can efficiently introduce groups having similar preferences to each user.

1 is a simplified diagram showing the overall configuration of a content delivery system according to the present embodiment.

2 is a schematic diagram showing the display screen 1.

3 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the portal server.

4 is a schematic diagram showing a database of a portal server.

5 is a schematic diagram showing the circuit configuration of a client terminal.

6 is a schematic diagram showing a folder structure.

7 is a schematic diagram showing a program module of a client terminal.

8 is a sequence chart showing a group introduction process according to the first embodiment.

9 is a schematic diagram illustrating the display screen 2.

10 is a schematic diagram showing the display screen 3.

11 is a sequence chart showing a group introduction process according to the second embodiment.

12 is a sequence chart showing a group introduction process according to the third embodiment.

13 is a schematic diagram showing the display screen 4.

14 is a schematic diagram illustrating the display screen 5.

15 is a schematic diagram showing the display screen 6.

16 is a sequence chart showing a group introduction process according to the fourth embodiment.

17 is a schematic diagram illustrating the display screen 7.

With reference to the drawings, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

(1) First embodiment

(1-1) Overall structure of content delivery system

In Fig. 1, 1 denotes a content delivery system as a whole, and client terminals 2A, 2B, 2C, ... of each user who participated in the content delivery system 1 are connected via a predetermined network 3. A portal server 4 for managing client terminals 2A, 2B, 2C, ..., a content server 5 for distributing various music data as content, and various information about music as a web page as a medium. It is connected to the music information providing server 6 to provide.

In this connection, in the present embodiment, for convenience of explanation, the client terminal 2A is used by the user A, the client terminal 2B is used by the user B, and the client terminal 2C is the user C. Shall be used by.

For example, the client terminal 2A acquires various web pages (hereinafter, referred to as music information pages) on which music information has been published from the music information providing server 6 according to the operation of the user A, It is made to display this on a display part.

The client terminal 2A is configured to store the page title of the user A's favorite music information page and its URL (Uniform Resource Locator) as the user A's preference information according to the user A's bookmark registration operation. . As shown in Fig. 2, the client terminal 2A displays only the page title of the stored preference information in the favorite display area AR1 of the display unit.

In this case, as the preference information of the user A, the page title "talk about agitation" and the URL corresponding thereto, the page title "secret of the red dragonfly" and the URL corresponding to this, the page title "home song" And the corresponding URL, the page title "Tsugaru Nursery Rhymes" and the corresponding URL, the page title "The Big Noppo's Old Clock" and the corresponding URL are stored.

Thus, the user A of the client terminal 2A can browse his / her favorite music information page by simply performing an operation of selecting a page title in the favorite display area AR1 without inputting a URL or the like one by one. It consists of.

On the other hand, in the portal server 4, many bulletin board pages (so-called BBSs (Bulletin Board System)) for gathering users with similar music preferences are provided. For example, in this portal server 4, the bulletin board page of the "American rock group", the bulletin board page of the "Japanese nursery rhyme group", the bulletin board page of the "Irish folk song group", and the "African folk song group" There are various bulletin board pages for each group of people with similar signs, such as bulletin board pages, bulletin board pages of the Movie Music Group, and so on.

Accordingly, each user of the content delivery system 1 can participate in any group among a large number of existing groups through such bulletin board pages, and thus can be made aware of other users with similar preferences.

(1-2) Configuration of Portal Server

In the portal server 4 shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 10 formed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) stores a basic program or various programs stored in a read only memory (ROM) 11 or a hard disk drive 12. In this case, various processes are executed by appropriately expanding the RAM 14 into a random access memory (RAM) 14 via the bus 13 and executing the same.

The control unit 10 of the portal server 4 controls the data communication processing unit 15 to perform data communication with the portal server 4 or the music information providing server 6 via the network 3.

In the hard disk drive 12, sources of bulletin board pages established by respective groups are stored. In this hard disk drive 12, a database is constructed. Logically representing this database, as shown in FIG. 4, the preference information database DB1 for collecting and accumulating the preference information of each user who participated in the content delivery system 1, and the user ID of each said user, and There is a group information database DB2 for storing the group name information of the group to which each user belongs to correspond.

For example, in this group information database DB2, the user ID "User B" of user B and the group name information "Irish folk song group" of the group to which the user B belongs are stored in association with each other. The user ID "User C" of C and the group name information "Japanese folk group" of the group to which the user C belongs are stored in correspondence. In addition, the user ID and group name information of a large number of users are also stored in correspondence. It is.

(1-3) Configuration of Client Terminal

Since the client terminals 2A, 2B, 2C, ... are all of the same configuration, only the client terminal 2A is described here.

(1-3-1) Circuit Configuration

As shown in FIG. 5, the CPU 30 of the client terminal 2A reads from the ROM 32 connected via the bus 31 and is a basic program such as an operating system (OS) that is deployed in the RAM 33. And overall control or predetermined arithmetic processing based on various application programs. For example, communication operations via the network 3, input / output operations from a user, contents playback from media or radio stations Recording of the downloaded content to the hard disk drive (HDD) 34, its management, and the like are executed.

The operation input unit 35 sends input information corresponding to the user's operation of various casing surfaces of the casing surface of the main unit or the remote controller (not shown in the drawing) to the input processing unit 36, and the input processing unit 36 provides predetermined information. After performing the processing, the CPU 30 is sent to the CPU 30 as an operation command, and the CPU 30 executes the processing according to the operation command.

For example, the display unit 37 may be a case where a display device such as a liquid crystal display is mounted directly on the casing surface of the main body, or may be an external display device, so as to display various types of information input through the display processing unit 38. consist of.

The media drive 39 is a drive for reproducing a memory stick (registered trademark) made of, for example, a CD player, a flash memory, and the like. After the digital analog conversion process is performed through the audio data processing unit 40, the 2ch is performed. It is made to output from the speaker 41 of.

At this time, when the data reproduced through the media drive 39 is music audio content, the CPU 30 can also store the data as an audio data file in the hard disk drive 34.

The CPU 30 also reads a plurality of still images stored in the memory stick (registered trademark) by the media drive 39, and displays them as a slide show on the display unit 37 via the display processing unit 38. You may.

In addition, the CPU 30 may read a plurality of pieces of music stored in the hard disk drive 34 by random access, reproduce them in the order desired by the user, and output them as if they were a juke box.

The tuner unit 42 is, for example, an AM or FM radio tuner, and recovers the broadcast signal received from the antenna 43 based on the control of the CPU 30, and uses the audio data processing unit as a broadcast voice. It outputs from the speaker 41 via the 40.

The communication processing unit 44 executes encoding processing of the transmission data under the control of the CPU 30, and transmits to the external network compatible device via the network 3 via the network interface 45, or the network Decode processing of the received data received from an external network compatible device via the interface 45 is performed, and is transmitted to the CPU 30.

(1-3-2) Directory Management

The CPU 30 of the client terminal 2A is configured to manage the directory structure shown in FIG. 6 when the content is stored in the hard disk drive 34. First, any number of "folder" directories are created in the lower level of the "root" directory within a prescribed range. This "folder" directory is created to correspond to, for example, the genre to which the content belongs, the owning user, or the like.

In the lower layer of the "folder" directory, an arbitrary number of "album" directories are created within a prescribed range, and the "album" directory is configured to correspond to each album title, for example. In the lower layer of the "album" directory, one or more "track" files belonging to the "album" directory are stored, and the "track" file becomes one piece of music, that is, content.

Directory management relating to such contents is performed by a database file stored in the hard disk drive 34.

(1-3-3) Program module configuration

As shown in Fig. 7, the program module of the client terminal 2A is configured to operate on an OS, and includes a content distribution server 5, an internet radio server, a music distribution operating server, a portal server 4, and a music information providing server. (6) Send and receive between various servers.

The HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) message program 50 transmits and receives communication between various servers such as the content distribution server 5, the portal server 4, the music information providing server 6, and the like. Reference numeral 51 is a program module for exchanging data with the HTTP message program 50.

Above the communicator program 51 is a content reproduction module 52 for analyzing and reproducing the codec of the content, and a copyright protection information management module 53 for handling copyright protection information. The content reproduction module 52 is provided. The copyright protection information management module 53 is provided with an Internet radio tuning playback module 54 which performs tuning and playback of Internet radio, and a music purchase playback module 55 that is responsible for music playback and playback of music viewed.

An XML (eXtensible Markup Language) browser 56 is located above the Internet radio tune playback module 54 and the music purchase playback module 55, and the XML browser 56 is XML or HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language). A source described in such a language is analyzed, and a web page is displayed on the display unit 37 based on the result.

For example, the music selected by the user via the XML browser 56 is purchased by the music purchase reproducing module 55 and recorded on the hard disk drive 34 through the hard disk content controller 57.

On the other hand, the authentication library 58A of the library 58 is connected to the communicator program 51, and the user authentication process etc. are performed between the portal servers 4 by the said authentication library 58A.

Further, above the communicator program 51, a database access module 59, a content data access module 60, and a hard disk content controller 57 are located.

The database access module 59 accesses various databases built on the hard disk drive 34, the content data access module 60 accesses contents stored on the hard disk drive 34, and the hard disk content controller 57. Are managed to manage contents stored in the hard disk drive 34.

Above the hard disk content controller 57, a related information display module 61 for displaying the title and artist name of a piece of music broadcasted by a radio station is located, and the tune of the piece of music tuned to or received from the radio station is located. Also located is a tuner tuning playback / recording module 62 for recording content to the hard disk drive 34.

For example, music received from a radio station tuned through the audio user interface 63 is recorded on the hard disk drive 34 through the content data access module 60.

The related information display module 61 uses the title or artist name of the piece of music currently being broadcast by the tuner tuning playback / recording module 62 as related information from the related information providing server via the HTTP message program 50. The signal is received and displayed on the display unit 37 via the audio user interface 63.

At this time, the related information displayed on the display unit 37 via the audio user interface 63 can be temporarily stored in the clip library 58B of the library 58, and finally the database access module according to the instruction from the user. Through the 59, the hard disk drive 34 is stored.

The program module of the client terminal 2A includes a CD reproducing module 64 for reproducing CD and an HDD reproducing module 65 for reproducing the hard disk drive 34. The reproducing result is audio. The data processor 40 and the speaker 41 are output in turn.

(1-4) Group Introduction Process

By the way, even if a user A wants to belong to any group suitable for his or her taste, since there are a large number of groups in the content delivery system 1, it is difficult to specify a desired group among the plurality of groups.

However, in the content delivery system 1 of the present embodiment, by performing the group introduction process, the user A can introduce the group suitable for the user A's preference. Here, this group introduction process is demonstrated using the sequence chart shown in FIG.

When the CPU 30 of the client terminal 2A recognizes that the predetermined registration operation has been executed by the user A, the process proceeds to step SP1, and as shown in FIG. 4 (I), the user A's preference information INFa. Is sent to the portal server 4. Upon receiving this, the control unit 10 of the portal server 4 registers the preference information INFa from the client terminal 2A with the preference information database DB1 in step SP2.

In addition, as shown in Fig. 4I, from the other client terminals 2B, 2C, ..., the preference information INFb, INFc, ... of user B, user C, ... It is in the state transmitted to the portal server 4, and therefore, regarding the preference information database DB1 of the portal server 4, user B, user C,... … Symbol information INFb, INFc, ... are already registered.

Thereafter, the user A selects, for example, the page title "Tsugaru nursery rhyme" of the music information page of his favorite from among the plurality of page titles displayed on the favorite display area AR1 (FIG. 2). If an operation is requested to introduce a group based on the selected page title "Tsugaru nursery rhyme", at this time, the CPU 30 of the client terminal 2A proceeds to step SP3 to the selected page title "Tsugaru nursery rhyme". The corresponding URL (that is, the URL of the music information page "Tsugaru nursery rhyme meeting") is transmitted to the portal server 4 as search key information for searching for a group matching the user A's preference.

When the control unit 10 of the portal server 4 receives the URL of the music information page "Tsugaru nursery rhyme" as the search key information from the client terminal 2A, the control unit 10 proceeds to step SP4 to execute the search engine EG (Fig. 4). Through the symbol information of the plurality of users registered in the symbol information database DB1, the symbol information including the URL is retrieved.

If, as a result of the search, for example, the preference information INFc of the user C is specified, the control unit 10 of the portal server 4 proceeds to step SP5 continuously, and the group information database ( DB2) recognizes group name information "Japanese nursery rhyme group" of the group to which user C belongs. Next, the control unit 10 of the portal server 4 proceeds to step SP6, and transmits the recognized group name information "Japanese nursery rhyme group" to the client terminal 2A.

When the CPU 30 of the client terminal 2A receives the group name information "Japanese nursery rhyme group" from the portal server 4, it progresses to step SP7 and writes this on the display part 37 (FIG. 9). We introduce "Japanese nursery rhyme group" to user.

In the above structure, the portal server 4 judges that user C which registered user T's favorite music information page "Tsugaru nursery rhythm meeting" as preference information INFc is a person whose preference is similar to user A, The user group "Japan Nursery Rhymes Group" is introduced.

As a result, the user A simply performs an operation of selecting the page title (in this case, "Tsugaru nursery rhyme") shown in the favorite display area AR1, and among the many groups existing in the content delivery system 1, the user A Groups that are likely to match the symbol of (in this case, `` Japanese nursery rhymes group '') can be introduced.

According to the above structure, the content delivery system 1 which can introduce the group similar in preference to each user including user A can be implement | achieved.

At this time, in step SP7 described above, as shown in FIG. 9, only the group name information "Japanese nursery rhyme group" is displayed on the display unit 37 of the client terminal 2A, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, the address of the bulletin board page opened by the "Japanese folk song group" may also be displayed, or the mail addresses of other users belonging to the group may also be displayed. In this way, interaction between users with similar preferences can be further promoted.

In addition, in the above step SP3, one page title (in this case, "Tsugaru swing") is selected for the user A, and the URL is transmitted to the portal server 4 as search key information. Although the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited thereto, and two or more page titles may be selected for the user, and these URLs may be transmitted to the portal server 4 as search key information.

(2) Second Embodiment

The overall configuration (FIG. 1) of the content delivery system 1, the configuration (FIG. 3 and FIG. 4) of the portal server 4, and the configuration (FIGS. 5 to 7) of the client terminal 2A are described above. Same as the embodiment of. Therefore, the group introduction processing differing in order from the first embodiment will be described using the sequence chart shown in FIG. 11 (the same reference numerals are assigned to the parts corresponding to those in FIG. 8).

(2-1) Group Introduction Process

When the CPU 30 of the client terminal 2A recognizes that the predetermined registration operation has been executed by the user A, the process proceeds to step SP1, and as shown in FIG. 4 (I), the user A's preference information INFa. Is sent to the portal server 4. Upon receiving this, the control unit 10 of the portal server 4 registers the preference information INFa from the client terminal 2A with the preference information database DB1 in step SP2.

In addition, as shown in Fig. 4I, from the other client terminals 2B, 2C, ..., the preference information INFb, INFc, ... of user B, user C, ... is preceded. The symbol information INFb, INFc, ... of user B, user C, ... is also already registered with the symbol information database DB1 of the portal server 4, since it was transmitted to the portal server 4.

After that, when the user A executes an operation for requesting to introduce a group that matches his or her preferences, the CPU 30 of the client terminal 2A proceeds to step SP10 at this time, and the user A's preference information INFa is executed. The information is sent to the portal server 4 as search key information for searching for a group that matches the user A's preference.

When the control unit 10 of the portal server 4 receives the preference information INFa of the user A as the search key information from the client terminal 2A, the control unit 10 proceeds to step SP11 and the preference information database via the search engine EG (Fig. 4). By referring to DB1, preference information of another user including all URLs displayed in preference information INFa of user A is searched.

As a result of the search, for example, if the user C's preference information INFc is specified, the control unit 10 of the portal server 4 assumes that the user's preference information INFc is similar to the user's preference information INFa. The judgment is made, and the flow proceeds to Step SP12 and the group information database DB2 is referred to via the search engine EG to recognize the group name information "Japanese nursery rhyme group" of the group to which the user C belongs. The control unit 10 of the portal server 4 proceeds to the next step SP13, and transmits the recognized group name information "Japanese nursery rhyme group" to the client terminal 2A.

When the CPU 30 of the client terminal 2A receives the group name information "Japanese nursery rhyme group" from the portal server 4, it progresses to step SP14, and displays this on the display part 37 (FIG. 9), We introduce "Japanese nursery rhyme group" to user.

In the above configuration, the portal server 4 judges that the user C of the preference information INCc including the URLs of all the music information pages that the user A likes is a person whose preference is the same as that of the user A, and which the user C belongs to. "A Japanese nursery rhyme group" is introduced about the user A.

As a result, the user A can simply introduce a group requesting to introduce a group that matches his or her preference, and can be introduced to a group that is likely to match his or her preference (in this case, "Japanese nursery rhyme group").

According to the above structure, the content delivery system 1 which can introduce the group similar in preference to each user including user A can be implement | achieved.

(3) Third Embodiment

The overall configuration (FIG. 1) of the content delivery system 1, the configuration (FIG. 3 and FIG. 4) of the portal server 4, and the configuration (FIGS. 5 to 7) of the client terminal 2A are described above. And the second embodiment. Therefore, the group introduction processing different in order from the first and second embodiments will be described using the sequence chart shown in FIG. 12 (the same reference numerals are assigned to the parts corresponding to those in FIG. 8).

(3-1) Group Introduction Process

When the CPU 30 of the client terminal 2A recognizes that the predetermined registration operation has been executed by the user A, the process proceeds to step SP1, and as shown in FIG. 4 (I), the user A's preference information INFa. Is sent to the portal server 4. Upon receiving this, the control unit 10 of the portal server 4 registers the preference information INFa from the client terminal 2A with the preference information database DB1 in step SP2.

In addition, as shown in Fig. 4I, from the other client terminals 2B, 2C, ..., the preference information INFb, INFc, ... of user B, user C, ... The symbol information INFb, INFc, ... of user B, user C, ... has already been registered with the symbol information database DB1 of the portal server 4, therefore, has been transmitted to the portal server 4. .

Thereafter, the user A selects, for example, the page title "Tsugaru nursery rhyme" of the music information page of his favorite among the plurality of page titles shown on the favorite display area AR1 (FIG. 2), If an operation is requested to introduce a group based on the selected page title "Tsugaru nursery rhyme", the CPU 30 of the client terminal 2A proceeds to step SP3 at this time, and the selected page title "Tsugaru nursery rhyme" is performed. (That is, the URL of the music information page "Tsugaru nursery rhyme meeting") is transmitted to the portal server 4 as search key information for searching for a group matching the user A's preference.

When the control unit 10 of the portal server 4 receives the URL of the music information page "Tsugaru nursery rhyme" as the search key information from the client terminal 2A, the control unit 10 proceeds to step SP20 to execute the search engine EG (Fig. 4). Through this, among the preference information of a plurality of users registered in the preference information database DB1, all preference information having the URL is searched.

And as a result of the search, for example, if preference information INFc, ... of several users including user C is specified, the control part 10 of the portal server 4 will continue to step SP21, By referring to the group information database DB2 through the search engine EG, the group name information "Japanese nursery rhyme group", "world nursery rhyme group", ... of the group to which a plurality of users including the said user C belonged is recognized. do.

Next, the control unit 10 of the portal server 4 proceeds to step SP22, and the preference information INFc of the plurality of specific users, ..., the recognized group name information "Japan Children's Songs" and "World Children's Songs". &Quot; Group ", ... are transmitted to the client terminal 2A.

The CPU 30 of the client terminal 2A stores the preference information INFc of a plurality of users including the user C from the portal server 4, ... and group name information of the group to which these users belong. ”,“ World Nursery Rhymes Group ”, ..., go to Step SP23, and there are some URLs included in the preference information INFc of the plurality of users, ... respectively, in the preference information INFa of the user A. Calculate.

Then, the CPU 30 of the client terminal 2A continues to step SP24, and as shown in Fig. 13, the preference information INFc of the plurality of users, ... the preference information "UserC symbol information" of each of them. , "Hanako's preference information" ... is displayed on the display unit 37 in association with the group name information "Japanese nursery rhyme group", "world nursery rhyme group", ... of the group to which each user belongs.

In this regard, in this step SP24, based on the calculation result of step SP23, preference information of the user having more URLs, such as a URL included in the preference information INFa of the user A, is given priority to the preference information name of the display unit 37. It is made to be displayed on the upper side.

As a result, the user A can easily specify the group name information "Japanese nursery rhyme group" of the belonging group of the user C whose preference is most likely to coincide with the user.

In the above configuration, the portal server 4 has a user A and a preference for the user C, ... registering the music information page "Tsugaru nursery rhyme" that user A likes as preference information INFc, ... It is judged that the person A is a similar person, and the user group A, the Japanese group yo-yo group, ... of the user C, ... is introduced to the user A.

As a result, the user A merely performs an operation of selecting the page title (in this case, "Tsugaru nursery rhyme") shown in the favorite display area AR1, and among the many groups existing in the content delivery system 1, You can be introduced to groups that are likely to match your preferences.

According to the above structure, the content delivery system 1 which can introduce the group similar in preference to each user including user A can be implement | achieved.

By the way, as shown in FIG. 13, when the symbol information name "symbol information of User C" is selected among the plurality of symbol information names shown on the display unit 37, for example, according to the operation of user A, the client terminal accordingly. As shown in Fig. 14, the CPU 30 of (2A) is configured to display all of the page titles " find home songs " shown in the user information preference information INFc.

Thereby, the user A can grasp all the music information pages which the user C which is likely to have similar preferences can find out other music information pages that may be of interest.

Then, in the state in which the page title "Song of Home Song" shown in the preference information INFc is displayed on the display unit 37, for example, the page title "Song of acorns" is selected according to the operation of the user A. The CPU 30 of the client terminal 2A adds the selected page title "Song of acorns" and its URL to the user A's preference information INFa, and as shown in FIG. 15, the page title "Acorns". Song "in the symbol display area AR1. In this way, the user A of the client terminal 2A can easily bookmark the new music information page based on the user C's preference information INFc.

At this time, in step SP24 described above, the display unit 37 of the client terminal 2A displays the symbol information INFc of the plurality of users, the symbol information names "UserC symbol information" and "hanako symbol information". Although .. is displayed as it is, you may conceal the user ID in these symbolic information names. For example, instead of these symbol information names " UserC symbol information " and " hanako symbol information " ..., the symbol information names " symbol information # 1 "# 2 ", ..., etc. may be displayed.

(4) Fourth Embodiment

The overall configuration (FIG. 1) of the content delivery system 1, the configuration (FIG. 3 and FIG. 4) of the portal server 4, and the configuration (FIGS. 5 to 7) of the client terminal are the first and second described above. And the third embodiment. Therefore, the group introduction processing different in order from the first, second, and third embodiments will be described using the sequence chart shown in FIG. 16 (the same reference numerals are assigned to the parts corresponding to those in FIG. 11).

(4-1) Group Introduction Process

When the CPU 30 of the client terminal 2A recognizes that the predetermined registration operation has been executed by the user A, the process proceeds to step SP1, and as shown in FIG. 4 (I), the user A's preference information INFa. Is sent to the portal server 4. Upon receiving this, the control unit 10 of the portal server 4 registers the preference information INFa from the client terminal 2A with the preference information database DB1 in step SP2.

In addition, as shown in Fig. 4I, from the other client terminals 2B, 2C, ..., the preference information INFb, INFc, ... of user B, user C, ... is preceded. The symbol information INFb, INFc, ... of user B, user C, ... is also already registered with the symbol information database DB1 of the portal server 4, since it was transmitted to the portal server 4.

After that, when the user A executes an operation for requesting to introduce a group that matches his or her preferences, the CPU 30 of the client terminal 2A proceeds to step SP10 at this time, and the user A preference information INFa is executed. It transmits to the portal server 4 as search key information for searching for a group matching the user A's preference.

When the control unit 10 of the portal server 4 receives the preference information INFa of the user A from the client terminal 2A as the search key information, the control unit 10 proceeds to step SP30 and the preference information database via the search engine EG (Fig. 4). By referring to DB1, preference information of another user, including all URLs displayed in preference information INFa of user A, is searched.

As a result of the search, for example, if preference information INFc, ... of a plurality of users including the user C is specified, the control unit 10 of the portal server 4 continues to step SP31, By referring to the group information database DB2 via the search engine EG, the group name information "Japanese nursery rhyme group", ... of the group to which the plurality of users including the user C belonged is recognized.

Next, the control unit 10 of the portal server 4 proceeds to step SP32, and the preference information INFc of the plurality of specific users, ... and the recognized group name information "Japanese nursery rhyme group", ... Are transmitted to the client terminal 2A.

The CPU 30 of the client terminal 2A stores the preference information INFc of a plurality of users including the user C from the portal server 4, ... and group name information of the group to which these users belong. &Quot;, ..., proceed to step SP33, and as shown in Fig. 17, symbol information names INFc of the plurality of users, symbol information names " UserC symbol information " The display section 37 is displayed in association with the group name information "Japanese nursery rhymes and groups", ... of the group to which each user belongs.

In the above configuration, the portal server 4 regards the preference information INCc including the URLs of all the music information pages that the user A likes, the user C of the ..., and the person whose preference is the same as the user A. Judgment is made to introduce the user group A, Japanese nursery rhyme group, ... of the user C, ... to the user A.

As a result, the user A can be introduced to a group that is likely to match his or her preference only by performing an operation for requesting to introduce a group that matches his or her preference.

According to the above structure, the content delivery system 1 which can introduce the group similar in preference to each user including user A can be implement | achieved.

(5) another embodiment

On the other hand, in the above first to fourth embodiments, the case where the client terminal 2A having the music reproduction function is applied as the terminal apparatus has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, for example, a PC or the like. Various information processing apparatuses, such as a mobile telephone, may be applied.

In addition, in the above first to fourth embodiments, the case of introducing a group consisting of users whose music preferences are similar to each other has been described. You may want to introduce a group of users with similar symbols in different fields. In this case, as the retrieval key information (or preference information) transmitted from the client terminal 2A, the URL of the movie information page (web page), the title of the movie, the title of the game, and the like, instead of the URL of the music information page, The same effect as in the above embodiment can be obtained.

In the above first to fourth embodiments, a process of searching for the second symbol information including the search key information among the plurality of symbol information stored in the storage means (hard disk drive 12), and the like is performed. Although the case where the control part 10 of the portal server 4 is applied as a search means to perform was described, this invention is not limited to this, Various other structures can be applied.

In the first to fourth embodiments, the case where the data communication processing unit 15 of the portal server 4 is applied as the transmission means for transmitting the second preference information or the like has been described. The invention is not limited to this, and various other configurations may be applied.

Further, in the first to fourth embodiments, a predetermined device (portal server 4) stores and holds first symbol information indicating a user's preferences and a plurality of symbol information representing the preferences of a plurality of other users. As a transmitting means for performing a process such as transmitting at)) and as a receiving means for receiving second preference information or the like, the communication processor 44 and the network interface 45 of the client terminal 2A are applied. Although the case was described, the present invention is not limited thereto, and various other configurations may be applied.

In addition, in the above first to fourth embodiments, the client terminal 2A and the portal server 4 control each circuit unit in accordance with a program installed in each of them to perform the group introduction processing described above in software. Although the present invention has been described, the present invention is not limited thereto, and circuits for realizing the group introduction process are provided in each of the client terminal 2A and the portal server 4, and the client terminal 2A and the portal server ( 4) may execute the above-described group introduction process in hardware by means of the above set circuit.

Further, in the first to fourth embodiments, the symbol information includes, for example, search key information (URL) received from the client terminal 2A as second symbol information similar to the first symbol information. Although the present invention has been described, the present invention is not limited thereto, and for example, symbol information having a URL of a home page of a field related to a home page corresponding to such search key information (URL) may be applied.

Further, in the first to fourth embodiments, for example, when attribute information of another user is applied, for example, belonging group information (group name information) of user C, which is considered to have similar preferences with user A, etc. Although the present invention has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and profile information or the like of the user C may be applied.

The present invention can be applied to, for example, a system in which a plurality of users are registered.

[Description of Symbols for Main Parts of Drawing]

1: content delivery system, 2A: client terminal,

4: portal server, 10: control unit,

12: hard disk drive, 15: data communication processing unit,

30: CPU, 44: communication processing unit,

45: network interface

Claims (20)

Receiving means for receiving first preference information representing the preference of the user from a terminal apparatus of the user; Storage means for storing a plurality of pieces of preference information representing the preferences of a plurality of other users; Retrieving means for retrieving second preference information similar to the first preference information among the plurality of preference information stored in the storage means; And at least transmission means for transmitting the attribute information of the other user corresponding to the second preference information to the terminal device of the user. The method of claim 1, The transmission means, And at least group information indicating a group to which said other user corresponds to said second preference information, as said attribute information, to said terminal device of said user. The method of claim 1, The receiving means, Receive a portion of the first preference information representing the preference of the user from the terminal apparatus of the user as search key information, The search means, Among the plurality of symbol information stored in the storage means, symbol information including the search key information is retrieved as second symbol information similar to the first symbol information, The transmission means, And at least group information indicating a group to which said other user corresponds to said second preference information, as said attribute information, to said terminal device of said user. The method of claim 1, The transmitting means transmits at least group information indicating a group to which the other user corresponding to the second preference information and the second preference information belongs as the attribute information to the terminal apparatus of the user. Information transmission device. The method of claim 1, The receiving means, Receive a portion of the first preference information representing the preference of the user from the terminal apparatus of the user as search key information, The search means, Among the plurality of symbol information stored in the storage means, symbol information including the search key information is retrieved as second symbol information similar to the first symbol information, The transmission means, And at least group information indicating a group to which the other user corresponding to the second preference information and the second preference information belongs, as the attribute information, to the terminal apparatus of the user. . Transmitting means for transmitting the first symbol information indicating the user's preferences to a predetermined device storing and holding the plurality of the preference information representing the preferences of a plurality of other users; And the second predetermined device receiving the first preference information retrieves at least second symbol information similar to the first preference information from among the plurality of preference information stored in the memory, and then transmits at least the second preference information. And receiving means for receiving attribute information of the other user corresponding to the preference information. The method of claim 6, The receiving means, And the second predetermined device receiving the first preference information retrieves at least second symbol information similar to the first preference information from among the plurality of preference information stored in the memory, and then transmits at least the second preference information. And terminal information indicating the group to which the other user belongs corresponds to the preference information as the attribute information. The method of claim 6, The transmission means, A part of the first symbol information indicating the user's preference is transmitted as the retrieval key information to a predetermined device which stores and holds the plurality of the preference information representing the preference of each of a plurality of other users, The receiving means, The predetermined device that has received the retrieval key information transmits at least the symbol information including the retrieval key information among the plurality of symbol information stored in the memory as the second symbol information after the search; And terminal information indicating the group to which the other user belongs corresponds to the preference information as the attribute information. The method of claim 6, The receiving means, And the second predetermined device receiving the first preference information retrieves at least second symbol information similar to the first preference information from among the plurality of preference information stored in the memory, and then transmits at least the second preference information. And terminal information indicating the group to which the other user belongs, which corresponds to the preference information and the second preference information, as the attribute information. The method of claim 6, The transmitting means transmits a part of the first preference information indicating a user's preference as search key information to a predetermined device which stores and holds a plurality of the preference information representing the preferences of a plurality of other users, The receiving means, The predetermined device having received the retrieval key information transmits at least the symbol information including the retrieval key information among the plurality of symbol information stored in the memory as the second symbol information after the search; And terminal information indicating the group to which the other user belongs, corresponding to the second preference information and the second preference information, as the attribute information. A reception step of receiving first preference information indicating a preference of the user from a terminal device of the user; A retrieving step of retrieving second symbol information similar to the first symbol information from among the plurality of symbol information representing the symbols of the plurality of other users stored in the predetermined storage means; And a transmitting step of transmitting at least the attribute information of the other user corresponding to the second preference information to the terminal apparatus of the user. The method of claim 11, In the transmission step, And at least group information indicating a group to which said other user corresponds to said second preference information, as said attribute information, to said terminal device of said user. The method of claim 11, In the receiving step, part of the first preference information representing the preference of the user is received from the terminal apparatus of the user as search key information, In the retrieval step, among the plurality of symbol information representing symbols of a plurality of other users stored in predetermined storage means, symbol information including the search key information is retrieved as the second similar symbol information, In the transmitting step, at least, the group information indicating the group to which the other user corresponding to the second preference information belongs is transmitted as the attribute information to the terminal apparatus of the user. The method of claim 11, In the transmission step, At least group information indicating a group to which the other user corresponding to the second preference information and the second preference information belongs, as the attribute information, to the terminal apparatus of the user. . The method of claim 11, In the receiving step, Receive a portion of the first preference information representing the preference of the user from the terminal apparatus of the user as search key information, In the search step, Among the plurality of pieces of symbol information representing symbols of a plurality of other users, stored in predetermined storage means, the symbol information including the search key information is retrieved as the similar second symbol information, In the transmission step, And at least group information indicating the belonging group of the other user corresponding to the second preference information and the second preference information as the attribute information to the terminal apparatus of the user. A transmission step of transmitting the first symbol information indicating the user's preferences to a predetermined device storing and holding the plurality of the preference information representing the preferences of the respective other users; And the second predetermined device receiving the first preference information retrieves at least second symbol information similar to the first preference information from among the plurality of preference information stored in the memory, and then transmits at least the second preference information. And a receiving step of receiving the attribute information of the other user corresponding to the preference information. The method of claim 16, In the receiving step, And the second predetermined device receiving the first preference information retrieves at least second symbol information similar to the first preference information from among the plurality of preference information stored in the memory, and then transmits at least the second preference information. And receiving, as the attribute information, group information indicating a group to which the other user belongs corresponding to the preference information. The method of claim 16, In the transmission step, A part of the first symbol information representing a user's preference is transmitted as search key information to a predetermined device which stores and holds a plurality of the preference information meaning the preference of each of a plurality of other users, In the receiving step, Wherein the predetermined device that has received the retrieval key information transmits at least the symbol information including the retrieval key information among the plurality of symbol information stored in the memory as the second symbol information after the retrieval is performed at least. And receiving, as the attribute information, group information indicating a group to which the other user belongs, corresponding to the preference information of item 2. The method of claim 16, In the receiving step, And the second predetermined device receiving the first preference information retrieves at least second symbol information similar to the first preference information from among the plurality of preference information stored in the memory, and then transmits at least the second preference information. And receiving group information indicating the group to which the other user belongs corresponding to the preference information and the second preference information as the attribute information. The method of claim 16, In the transmission step, A part of the first symbol information indicating a user's preference is transmitted as search key information to a predetermined device which stores and holds a plurality of the symbol information representing the preferences of a plurality of other users, In the receiving step, Wherein the predetermined device that has received the retrieval key information transmits at least the symbol information including the retrieval key information among the plurality of symbol information stored in the memory as the second symbol information after the retrieval is performed at least. And group information indicating a group to which the other user belongs to the preference information of the second and the second preference information as the attribute information.

Images